Stockwood

Stockwood is a toponym used for several places in England. The most prominent is Stockwood Park, a large public park in Luton, Bedfordshire. Within the park lies the Stockwood Discovery Centre, a museum and archive complex devoted to local history.

Beyond Luton, the name appears in rural parish and village names across the country. In these contexts, Stockwood typically refers to a wooded area near a settlement, though the precise boundaries, governance, and status have varied over time.

Etymology: The place-name Stockwood is believed to derive from Old English elements such as stocc or stock, meaning a trunk of a tree or a stock of timber, combined with wudu meaning wood. The combination would describe a “wooded place” or “wood pasture” associated with a settlement.

In contemporary usage, Stockwood is primarily recognized for the Luton site; other instances survive in historical records and as geographic references in various counties.